Southside

All about Sam • I have been reading your paper since I could read. I have read papers in many parts of the country and this one has been much better than most…You have a truly great entertainment reporter in Sam McDonald . I have read all your music writers since the late 60s, early 70s. You've had some good writers and some duds. Sam consistently writes knowledgeable columns about the local music scene as well as national artists. He's a definite asset for the DP. Thank you. Editor: Thank you. We couldn't agree more.

Newport News-based Riverside Health System has announced a security breach at Cancer Specialists of Tidewater, a Riverside-owned practice with offices in Virginia Beach, Suffolk and Chesapeake. More than 2,000 patients have potentially been affected by a team member accused of identity theft. The female employee charged, a medical assistant at the practice from August 2012 to June 2014, is no longer employed by Riverside. The health system says it is assisting the Chesapeake Police Department in an investigation.

Joshua P. Darden, who was known for his philanthropic efforts on the Southside, died Wednesday. He was 77. Darden served for 27 years on the board of what is now known as the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, 10 of those years - 1999 to 2009 - as the foundation's chairman, Deborah M. DiCroce, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, said Thursday. Darden also was instrumental in overseeing the creation of the foundation in 2010 when the Norfolk Foundation merged with the Virginia Beach Foundation, she said.

Four companies based in Hampton Roads earned spots on the Fortune 500 list earlier this month, led by Smithfield Foods at number 214. Huntington Ingalls Industries, parent company to Newport News Shipbuilding, dropped two spots from last year to land at 382 on this year's list. On the Southside, Norfolk-based rail company Norfolk Southern came in at 247 and Dollar Tree of Chesapeake landed at 342. The list is ranked by total revenue, which in Smithfield's case amounts to over $13.2 billion, an overall increase of about 1 percent despite a nearly 50 percent rduction in profits over the previous fiscal year, according to the list.

The least know section of Virginia is the area south of the James River. You rarely hear much about Southside unless you come from Virginia. It has few cities and not much commerce. What it does have is pine woods and fields. Southside is giving up its farms, and the area is becoming an immense bedroom community. Every day its country dwellers rise before dawn for the day's work in Norfolk, Franklin, Portsmouth, Newport News, Richmond, Petersburg and Danville. Hundreds come to Newport News Shipbuilding and others cross by early morning ferries at Jamestown to work in the Williamsburg area.

Society would be in better shape if there were no need for battered women's shelters. That point, regrettably, is a long way away. Demand on the Peninsula has forced the Virginia Peninsula Council on Domestic Violence to plan for its fourth shelter. The council served a record 809 clients in 1992. In Southside, the fledgling Genieve Shelter is at a crisis point now in its third year. Using a single apartment, the shelter served 40 women and 50 children for 1,325 nights during the year ending June 30, and another 58 women and children had to be turned away for lack of space.

For guys like Gabe Hillegas, a Hampton High class valedictorian who will concentrate on academics in college, Saturday's American Legion Baseball All- Star game between the Peninsula-area Third District and the Southside-area Second District offered a last chance to live out a fantasy. "It's a pretty big deal to play in a park like this because as a kid I always wanted to be a professional ballplayer, " Hillegas said of Harbor Park. "Now my goal is to become a doctor, but it's kind of a privilege to play on a field like this, especially since it might be my last game."

The Southside ran its string of victories to 10 in a row over the Peninsula in the Hampton Roads Team Matches at the Kiln Creek Golf and Country Club Sunday. The Peninsula won only one of six matches and tied another in falling 12 1/2 - 5 1/2 in the annual shootout between the rival teams. The Peninsula's victory came in the seniors-only matchup. Tommy Dishman and O.D. Gardner handed the team of Bob Nolf and John Ackiss their first loss in the 15-year-old series 3-0. In the final match of the cold afternoon, Jeff Scheumann, the No. 1 player on the Peninsula this season, and John Steiger salvaged a 1 1/2 - 1 1/2 tie against Billy Williard and Dick Ogden.

I know it's early. But 1998 is starting to look like a year of resurrections. A few weeks ago we reported on the return of Cashmere Jungle Lords, a beloved Richmond roots rock group. Now, Hampton Roads is seeing the second coming of God And Famous, an artsy Southside rock unit formerly known as Antic Hay. Along with Waxing Poetics, the Antics were at the top of the region's original rock hierarchy in the late '80s. Although the group never released a major label disc, its reputation for stripped-down, post-punk sounds spread across the Eastern Seaboard.

A $128 million project to repair and repave sections of Interstates 64 and 264 in southside Hampton Roads got underway Monday night. Virginia Department of Transportation officials announced the project on Monday at the agency's operations facility in Virginia Beach. The work is split into three phases, with a different contractor on each. Segment 1 is on I-64 from Little Creak Road bridge to Curlew Drive and I-264 from Claiborne Avenue bridge to Broad Creek bridge. Segment 2 is on I-64 from Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel to Little Creek Road bridge and Segment 3 is on I-264 from Witchduck Road to Parks Avenue.

The slower lane Think . Give credit to someone for having thought out the "new" Route 460 significance. At the same time, due to the size of the project, construct it in logical segments. To the "thinkers" about Southside and Tidewater economic growth the most compelling feature I think should relate to creating Dulles South on the northside of "new" 460, west of Ivor in Isle of Wight county. This bears the most immediate economic fruit for the region. The present Norfolk airport is in "suburban-lock", hemed in by housing and tidal waters.

Boys: Maury (25-2) captured its first regional title since 2003, beating Henrico 61-49 Wednesday night in the Group 5A South final at Churchland High. Venerable coach Jack Baker's Commodores, led by often-spectacular freshman point guard Matt Coleman's 15 points and five assists, earned the right to play their state semifinal against Potomac at Old Dominion's Constant Center on Saturday. Henrico, last year's state Group AAA champion, must travel to Northern Virginia to face Wakefield.

Joshua P. Darden, who was known for his philanthropic efforts on the Southside, died Wednesday. He was 77. Darden served for 27 years on the board of what is now known as the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, 10 of those years - 1999 to 2009 - as the foundation's chairman, Deborah M. DiCroce, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, said Thursday. Darden also was instrumental in overseeing the creation of the foundation in 2010 when the Norfolk Foundation merged with the Virginia Beach Foundation, she said.

Field hockey: Gloucester extended its shutout streak to 11 games with a 7-0 victory over Warwick , one of its top challengers in the Peninsula District. Hannah Wilburn scored two goals, Cassidy Goodwin had a goal and three assists, and Kayla Sadler had a trio of assists. ... Madeline Montgomery had two goals and an assist and Mauri Ware scored twice in Hampton Roads Academy 's 5-3 win at Woodside . ... Hickory rolled past Conference 10 opponent Hampton 13-0 . ... Poquoson stopped New Kent 3-1 on Maggie Chiappazzi's two goals and one assist.

If you think you're having problems leaving Southside to get to the Peninsula through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel you're right. If you think you're having problems leaving Southside to get to the Peninsula through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, you're right. The stretch of I-64 between Tidewater Drive and the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel is steadily getting worse, according to traffic data obtained from traffic analysts at INRIX, a company that studies transportation issues.

THERON COLUCCI. The southside resident won the Munck Autech Criterium held at the Oakland Industrial Park course. He rides for the Hampton/Denbigh/Kempsville racing team. COREY FISHER. The Southside cyclist placed third in the Munck Autech Criterium at the Oakland Industrial Park. He rides for Toshiba.

A simple vote taken last week by the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization could prove to be the most important regional transportation decision in recent history. The board passed a resolution to endorse to the expansion of Interstate 64 from exit 255 in Newport News to exit 242 in Williamsburg — one of the most congested stretches of the most-traveled route through our region. A common choke point on the Peninsula for local motorists, commuters and tourists, this section of highway will be expanded from four to six lanes, with design plans that will allow for eventual expansion to eight lanes.

Superintendent pay raise As a citizen of Newport News and realizing the school division gets the single most amount of the city's budget, I am very concerned with how this elected school board decided to spend it. My concerns are twofold: the expenditure itself and the methodology behind the approval. Clearly the vote on the superintendent's 'rumored' pay raise was left off the public agenda deliberately. This action alone is duplicitous and shows a complete lack of integrity from every elected official who allowed it to happen.